Song for a Lost Boy
by James Church
Summary: Flash-sideways Sawyer & Miles  LAPD cops  travel to Lima, Ohio to track down a runaway boy. Nothing fancy, but an excuse for Sawyer nicknames for the "Glee" kids.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

The flight out to Dayton was pretty boring to James Ford and Miles Straume. Flying halfway across the country on this missing persons wasn't exactly routine for them, but somebody "high up" had insisted on it. For some reason, this missing kid had piqued the interest of somebody and Ford and Straume were put on the case.

A tip had led them to the small town of Lima, Ohio. Supposedly the kid had been spotted by a local off a Missing Children's website and they had called the LAPD. An interview with his grandmother had confirmed that he had distant relatives in Lima, but that he hadn't ever met them.

Regardless, James and Miles were now in a rental car and heading towards Lima. Both men eyed the town cynically as they entered it. Your run-of-the-mill small industrial town, holding its own from the de-industrialization of the 70s and 80s.

"Nice burg, huh?" Straume said sarcastically. "Oh, yeah," Ford replied, "I'm thinking of retiring here." Both smirked. "What do you think?" Ford thought for moment. "If I were a kid on the run…where would be the best place to hide out, blend in?" Miles nodded knowingly. "Where there were a lot of other kids." Ford nodded back.

They stopped and asked directions and then made their way over to the local high school. As they pulled in the parking lot, they saw the sign "William McKinley High". The two police officers made their way past all the stares of local teens ….jocks…nerds…cheerleaders, the usual assortment and headed for the principal's office. They spoke to the secretary, who buzzed them in to see him. "Yes? I'm Principal Figgins," the Indian-American man stood extending his hand, "How can I help you?" They both took turns shaking it and then sat in the chairs in front of the desk.

Ford and Straume presented their badges, while James spoke. "Detective James Ford," he indicated to Miles, "Detective Straume, LAPD." The school administrator had a puzzled, worried look on his face. "What does the Los Angeles police want here?" Ford continued. "We got a missing kid case and our leads have led us to Lima." He pulled out a photo from his leather jacket and handed it to Figgins. "Name's Walter Lloyd or Walt... 10 years old." Figgins examined the picture. "I don't recognize him," he handed it back. "Besides, our children are fourteen or fifteen or older."

Ford nodded. "Yeah, we just thought we'd start here before going to the junior high and elementary schools, in case some one of your kids had a clue, we could catch up to him without him knowing we were in town." Miles jumped in. "His grandmother said he had some relatives in this town named 'Jones'," he stated, "You got any African-American kids named 'Jones'?" Figgins nodded. "Yes, let me pull the student roster." Reaching behind him, the principal pulled out a large book. He flipped through it. "Yes, there are three." He showed it to the other two men.

"Marcus Jones, Kendall Jones, Mercedes Jones" James Ford read. "Okay, mind if we talk to these kids?" Figgins demurred slightly. "Well, I don't want to pull them out of class if we can help it." Ford nodded, "Okay, how about after class?" Figgins nodded, "Alright. Marcus is on the basketball team, so he'll be in practice at 3pm. Kendall is track and will be on the field also at 3pm. Mercedes is in our Glee Club, so she'll be in the choir room about that time." They looked at the clock, it said twenty to three. "Mind if we wait here?" Ford asked. "Please."

Just about five minutes later, Figgins' door burst open and a tall, thin blonde woman in her late forties came in, wearing an orange tracksuit and a whistle around her neck. Ford and Straume turned instinctively, slightly reaching for their holstered handguns. The woman was incensed.

"What the hell is this?" she demanded. "You've cut my budget for hairstyling for the Cheerios? This…will…not…stand!" Figgins grew angry, primarily at the embarrassment of the interruption in front of strangers. "Sue! $500 a month for stylists is an outrageously expensive….uh…expense. Especially given the Cheerios current status." Both knew that meant Sue Sylvester's recent loss at Regionals. She seemed taken aback by the cut and was about to outburst again, when she finally saw the two men sitting there in front of the principal's desk. "Who the hell are you?"

Ford looked at her smugly. "Well, I might ask the same of you, Bear Bryant?" Sue was taken aback again. Figgins jumped in "This is Sue Sylvester, coach of our cheerleader squad." He motioned to the men. "Sue, these are Detectives Ford and Straume of the Los Angeles Police." At the mention of their assignment, Sylvester blushed. She pointed her finger squarely at Ford. "You can't prove a damn thing. The video clearly shows I wasn't anywhere near Rodney King!" She turned back to Figgins. "As for the budget cut…there WILL be a reckoning, Figgins. Oh, yes!" And with that, she left the office, slamming the door behind her.

Ford and Straume stared at each other for a moment, completely confused. Then back at Figgins. "She's very …passionate," he tried to explain. Three o'clock arrived in silence. Ford turned to Straume, "Miles, you go check out the kid at the basketball court…I'll go down to the choir room. When we get done, we'll meet at the track field." Straume nodded. James turned to Figgins. "We'll try to keep it brief, but if we need to talk to any kid alone, you'll need to call their parents." The principal nodded and Ford left the office and headed down the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

The Choir Room door was open as James came to it. Inside he saw an odd assortment of teens, sitting on chairs in front of a young male teacher with brown, tightly curled hair. He caught part of the teacher's voice as he entered the room. "Okay, we need a good ballad for Nationals, I was thi…." He went silent as he saw the kids staring at the lean blonde man at the door. He turned. "Yes? Can I help you?"

Ford moved forward, smiling. He pulled out his badge. "Detective James Ford, LAPD" As he did he scanned the teens' faces, several, including Mercedes Jones, were visibly startled. "Los Angeles police?" the young teacher asked. "Yes, I'm here investigating a missing child case. I spoke with Principal Figgins and he said I could speak to …a few…of your students about it." The young man nodded. "Oh, uh, sure. Will Schuster" he introduced himself and shook Ford's hand. "Who do you need to speak to?"

"Well for starters," Ford began, "That young lady over there." Instead of pointing to Mercedes, he pointed to a brunette girl with a broad mouth. "Rachael?" Schuster asked slightly puzzled. Ford noted that the other kids were puzzled too, especially Mercedes. "Yeah," James repeated. Schuster nodded, "Okay, do you want to go down the hall to my Spanish classroom?" Ford shook his head. "No, I think we can handle this right here, just fine." Schuster shrugged. "Well, okay. Rachael?" He turned to the girl.

Slowly she stood up and walked over to Ford, who had pulled out two chairs and sat backwards in one, facing the one that he motioned for Rachel to sit in. Ford smiled charmingly. "What's your name, sweetheart?" "Rachael Berry…I'm…uh…co-captain of 'New Directions' here." Ford looked over at Schuster. "That's the name of our glee club." Ford nodded and turned back to her. "So? Gonna be a big Broadway star?" Rachel was momentarily pleased and smiled. "That's my goal, my vision really." Then remembering who and what she was talking to, she became serious again.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his photo of Walt and showed it to her. "Ever seen this kid?" The young woman looked at it, then away and up and then back at Ford. "No, I've never seen him." Ford noticed her clenching her hands in front of him. "He's got some relatives in this area," he began, "Guess they wouldn't be related to you, though, huh?" "Actually, one of my gay fathers is African-American." Ford raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Oh, well, you're a regular poster girl for political correctness, aren't ya?" Scanning the room, Ford noticed a tall, brunette boy looking around nervously. He stood up and walked towards the group. He got close to the boy. "So? What's your story, Lurch?"

The boy was attempting to speak, when Rachel piped up behind Ford. "He's Finn Hudson, he's our co-Captain." Ford looked at her and then back at Finn. "Oh? Natural-born leader, eh?" He held the picture out to Finn. "Ever seen this boy?" Hudson stared at it and then back at Rachael and around the room. "No…I mean, I don't think so…I mean, no." Ford smiled. "That your final answer? Remember, this is the $100,000 question, son?" Finn looked around again, nervously. Then he nodded.

Another boy, tall and muscular with a short Mohawk stood up, "Hey, he said he doesn't know him." Ford turned to him. "Ooh, Maqua for the defense, huh?" He flashed the photo at him. "You know this kid, Cadet May-o-naise?" The boy's bluster faded and he shook his head, obviously lying. Ford looked around at the group. "Well, we got quite the little group consensus going here, don't we?" He went over to a Latina girl with a sneer on her face. "How about you, Selena?" The girl looked at the photo, shook her head and looked away.

Then to a smaller, thin boy with the parted hair in a coat and tie school uniform. "How about Captain Kangaroo, here?" The boy with an effeminate voice sniffed at the insult and said "No, I don't even go to this school anymore, I'm just here visiting my friends." Ford nodded, "Hmm, well, you might need to stick around for a bit."

Will Schuster finally tired of this, asked pointedly "Detective Ford, what is your point?" Ford stepped back from the kids and towards Schuster. "My point is that we got a bunch of kids here all engaging in a conspiracy to hide a runaway." "Can you prove that?" "I'm about to," he replied and turned to Mercedes. He stared her right in the eyes. "Hey! Queen Latifah? You know what kind of trouble…legal trouble…your buddies here could get into for helping you hide your cousin?" Every one of the teens' eyes widened significantly…except Mercedes, which looked down.

Schuster stepped forward around Ford. "Mercedes? Is this true?" The girl didn't speak for a moment. "Yes, Mr. Shu." Then she looked up at him. "Walt's my cousin; he came into town on the bus last week. Said some men were after him." Her eyes went to Ford. "He's been hiding in our family's lake house. My mom and dad don't even know he's here. Everybody's been taking turns checking on him, bringing him groceries and stuff." She looked around at several smiling faces. "Mr. Shu, Walt's really scared. He keeps saying these guys want to take him away someplace."

Ford walked forward slowly. "Look, kid. I'm a cop," he began explaining, "You can call LAPD and confirm that. Walt's grandmother sent us to look for him, she's worried sick. If there is somebody after him, I'll protect him." Schuster looked from Ford back to Mercedes. "He's right, Mercedes. You can't keep hiding him here, sooner or later, somebody would find out and your parents, as well as your friends, would be in big trouble." The young woman nodded. "Okay, Mr. Shu, I know. You're right."

Fifteen minutes later, Ford, Straume, Schuster and Mercedes were driving out to the Jones' lake cabin. James had already told her she could go in first with Schuster to talk the kid out, but that he and Miles would have the exits covered.

As Will and Mercedes entered the lake-house, Walt Lloyd was sitting in the den watching TV, eating a peanut butter sandwich. He turned at the door opening and stood up. First he smiled seeing Mercedes, then became visibly scared when she saw the older man with her.

Mercedes tried to calm him. "Walt, it's okay. This is my teacher, Mr. Schuster." "Why'd you bring him here?" Mercedes tried to smile lightly. Will spoke up. "Walt, the police are here too." The young boy began scanning the windows. "They came to the school and figured out pretty quickly that Mercedes and the others were hiding you out here." Schuster stepped forward slightly. "Look, I checked them out. They _are_ the police….and they've said they'll protect you, if somebody is after you."

Confused, but realizing he had no choice, Walt slumped back in to the chair. Mercedes and Will walked over to him. The girl spoke "Walt, I'm sorry. But you know you couldn't keep hiding out here forever." "I know, I know," he replied, "I was just hoping my dad would turn up. I think he could explain all this." Schuster touched him on the shoulder. "Walt, if there's anything you need, you can call me or any of the kids in the glee club." The boy looked up and smiled a bit. "Thanks." Looking out the window at Straume, Schuster motioned for him to come in.

"Mr. Shu, before Walt leaves," Mercedes began, "Could he come by the Choir Room and everybody say goodbye?" Schuster smiled. "I think I can talk Ford into that."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Back again at the Choir Room, Walt Lloyd, James Ford, Miles Straume all joined the New Directions teens and their teacher. Mercedes spoke for a few minutes with her friends, while James left his card for Will Schuster and took Will's number for Walt.

A minute later, Mercedes walked up to Walt. "Walt? We got up a real quick goodbye for you." The non-McKinley men and boy were confused, but Will motioned for them to sit in nearby chairs. Mercedes began….

Oh, why you look so sad?  
Tears are in your eyes  
Come on and come to me now

Don't be ashamed to cry  
Let me see you through  
'cause I've seen the dark side too 

When the night falls on you  
You don't know what to do  
Nothing you confess  
Could make me love you less

I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you  
Won't let nobody hurt you  
I'll stand by you 

So if you're mad, get mad  
Don't hold it all inside  
Come on and talk to me now 

Hey, what you got to hide?  
I get angry too  
Well I'm a lot like you 

When you're standing at the crossroads  
Don't know which path to choose  
Let me come along  
'cause even if you're wrong 

I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you  
Won't let nobody hurt you  
I'll stand by you  
Take me in into your darkest hour  
And I'll never desert you  
I'll stand by you

And when...  
When the night falls on you, baby  
You're feeling all alone  
You won't be on your own

I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you  
Won't let nobody hurt you 

I'll stand by you  
Take me in, into your darkest hour  
And I'll never desert you  
I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you  
Won't let nobody hurt you  
I'll stand by you  
and I'll never desert you  
I'll stand by you  
I'll stand by you  
Won't let nobody hurt you  
I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

The group finished, all standing in a semi-circle in front of Walt. Miles smiled, as did, begrudgingly, James Ford. Then shaking himself from an emotional moment, he sarcastically said. "Say, any of you kids know any Hank Jr.?" The tension broke and they all laughed.

After some hugs, Walt left with Ford and Straume.

((Note lyrics to "I'll Stand By You" are copyrighted to Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders.))


End file.
